Bass Line
by Carree
Summary: AU!Puck is 22 years old and trying to make it big in the music buisness in New York with his band. Rachel is a budding Broadway star. Both have their issues but maybe together they can learn that people don't always leave you and how to trust their heart.
1. Opening Act

A/N: Okay so this is an AU story meaning that while I will try and keep everybody mostly in character some things about them may be different because I have changed a lot about their lives and what has happened to them. Feedback is always appreciated so please don't be afraid to tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of the music I may include in this story.

* * *

Noah 'Puck' Puckerman stood on stage strumming the last few notes on his guitar before letting the music fade away only to be replaced with the frantic applause and cheering coming from the surrounding night club.

"Thanks guys," Puck spoke into his microphone, "You've been great," with that he set the mic back into the stand before unplugging his guitar and heading back stage.

"Dude that was wicked!" Finn yelled as soon as they were off and the sounds of harsh techno beats could be heard out in the club.

Puck laughed at his sweaty best friend who was waving his drum sticks around frantically as if try to show just how wicked they had been.

"Wow dude watch the sticks! I'm already in a wheelchair I don't need you blinding me!" Artie maneuvered his chair around Finn's hulking form to join the conversation.

"Artie you were great! It was just like bow bow bow." Finn imitated the sound of Arties bass guitar.

"Finn man, you need to calm down." Puck nudged his friend and band mate in the arm.

"I know dude, it's just such a rush. Our first requested gig you know? I mean I know we earned all our other gigs…but they **wanted** us tonight."

"It was pretty sweet when we got that call." Artie admitted as a smile pulled across his face.

"That was awesome guys!" There was a high pitched squeal from behind Puck.

"I know!" Finn gushed at the new comer.

The short man dressed from head to toe in designer clothing walked purposefully toward the trio. "I'm Kurt, the music advisor, or booker if you will. I spoke to one of you on the phone?"

"That would have been me," Puck extended his right hand to the man to shake.

"Excellent, it's good to meet you all in person."

"So how did you hear about us?" Artie piped up.

"A friend of mine who works on Broadway recommended you. She heard you perform down at _Snake Eyes_ last month and told me I simply had to convince Quinn to give you guys a try."

"Quinn is your boss?" Finn asked curious.

"Yes she runs the club. Oh! That reminds me! She was very impressed with your sound; she wants to work out some kind of deal with you guys, maybe doing some regular performances?"

Finn's face lit up brighter then a Christmas tree. "That would be awesome! Wouldn't it guys?" he looked between his two band mates.

"Yeah!" Puck responded just as blown away as Finn. "I'll get our manager to give you guys a shout and we can sit down and work something out."

Kurt beamed up at them. "Excellent, I'll tell Quinn and let her know." Kurt hurried away with a large smile on his face. "Oh one last thing, feel free to stick around for a bit longer, drinks are on the house tonight gentlemen!" With that he disappeared around the corner.

Puck smirked at this, "Alright boys. Time to have some fun!"

Finn frowned, "Are you sure Puck? I mean you and Santana just-"

"Don't," Puck growled at his tall friend. "I don't plan to or need to get laid to have fun first off and second don't ever say that bitch's name to me again." With that Puck spun on his heal and marched out into the thriving club scene.

"Smooth Finn, real smooth." Artie shook his head as he rolled his chair the same way Puck had gone.

* * *

Puck walked out into the club and made a bee line for the bar.

"Barkeep," Puck called catching the attention of a young goth looking woman. "One beer."

She nodded and pulled a cold one out from under the bar and brought it down to him.

"It's on the house. I'm with the band."

"I know." She responded and stuck out her hand. "You g-g-guys were really good. I'm Tina."

"Puck," Puck responded as he took her hand. "Thanks." He raised his beer in her direction before taking a long pull. "I'll see you around Tina."

Tina smiled before going back to work as Puck made his way into the crowd.

Puck observed the crowd from a vacant table. He had lied to Finn. He did intend to get laid tonight…he just needed to find the right woman. One that could maybe help him for one night to forget the gaping hole that one latino babe had left festering in his chest.

"Where do you think you're going? I thought we were gonna have some fun tonight?" Puck picked up the conversation at the table next to him.

"Home," replied a female voice, "While I appreciate the drink, if you thought you were going to get me into bed tonight, I am not sorry to disappoint."

"Come on girly, I bought you drinks; the least you can do is come back to my hotel with me. That's how these things work."

"Not tonight, please take your hands off me!"

Puck spun around, "Listen buddy." He addressed the man who had been speaking as he stood. "The lady said no," Puck took in the man's appearance, "You can take you're middle class businessman ass outta here and fuck off."

"I aint your buddy," the man responded giving Puck a shove as he spoke. "And you need to mind your own god damn business."

Puck stumbled backwards into his table before catching himself.

"What's going on here?" A slim man was suddenly beside them and Puck recognized him as one of the bouncers who had helped him carry some of their gear into the club earlier in the night. The bouncer obviously recognized him to because the next thing he asked was, "This guy giving you trouble man?"

"Nah," Puck replied, "He was just leaving, you mind making sure he gets out the door okay?"

"Not a problem Puck. Come on bud, time to find a new place to hang out."

"Thanks Matt." Puck called after the bouncer as his name finally made its way back into his mind.

Puck turned back to the woman. She was about a head shorter then him with mocha color skin. He couldn't help but notice the way her long dark hair fell around her face complimenting its shape. He was also intrigued by the fact that while she had obviously put effort into her appearance she had done so in a way that left her looking like a woman and not some cheap whore like most women he would have picked up in a place like this. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I had everything under control. I didn't need your help!"

Puck was slightly taken aback. Usually when he pulled on his rusted armor and played this role he received nothing but praise. "Gee sorry about that," Puck threw his hands up sarcastically, "Next time I'll make sure to let the creep drag the girl out back and into the alley. Sound good?"

"I was just fine," she repeated. "Maybe next time you should mind your own business. Now if you'll excuse me I happen to really enjoy this song and I intend to enjoy dancing to it." With that she turned on her heal and made her way out onto the dance floor.

Puck watched her go, admiring her long legs and the way the jeans she was wearing made her ass look simply bitable. It was with that thought that Puck realized he had found the right woman, for tonight that was, and he wouldn't rest until she was at home, snug, in **his** bed.

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A/N: Okay so that is chapter one. Please leave reviews and tell me what you think because this is my first glee fic and I have no clue what I am doing!! Lol.


	2. Psychotic

A/N: I can't thank you guys enough! I can't believe how many alerts I got! Anyways I will try and update probably about once a week but if I am late or early don't get to upset because I can only write when I feel inspired otherwise it come out like crap. Rating will most likely go up to M at some point but I will give warning.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee and the Psychotic belongs to Econoline Crush.

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Chapter Two

_There's something in the air  
Doesn't feel right  
Voices in my head  
Shadows in the light_

Rachel made her way out onto the dance floor loosing herself in the hard beat that was pulsing out of the speakers.

_Lookin' for attention  
Comin' back with pain  
I don't think your intention's  
Doin' right by me_

She moved her body in a seductive manner feeling the sex and pain behind the lyrics. Her fluid movements quickly caught attention from the surrounding crowd and a few leering looks. Men watched her swaying hips with lust while women watched in envy.

Rachel continued to move, pushing away anybody that moved too close.

_Over and over and over and over again  
Over and over and over and over again_

The beat became softer and more sensual and Rachel responded by swaying her hips while pulling her arms up over her body.

Suddenly her hips were being tugged back into a warm hard body and began moving with hers as the beat grew more feral. She was spun in a tight circle and found her chest pressed into the man from the table.

_You're psychotic  
I'm sufferin'  
Take all you can  
'Til nothin' is left  
Kickin', screamin',  
Fightin' again  
You're so sick, sick, sick  
_

Rachel looked up at him and noticed the lustful look in his green eyes as he continued to move their bodies together. He smirked down at her before dipping his head and bringing his mouth right next to her ear.

_You're psychotic  
I'm sufferin'  
Take all you can  
'Til nothin' is left  
Kickin', screamin',  
Fightin' again  
You're so sick, sick, sick_

"You know polite society when two people meet for the first time they tell the other person their name." His words practically dripped with sex as he spun her around so that her back was once again pressed tight to his chest. His hips pressed so hard into hers that she was forced to reach behind her to grab his neck to remain upright.

_There's somethin' in your eyes  
You're so far away  
Startin' to despise  
Way that you behave  
_

He dipped his head down to the junction of her neck and shoulders, his lips ghosting over her skin in an almost touch before moving up to her ear once more. "So are you going to tell me?"

Rachel had been annoyed before but his warm breath on her skin and soft whispered words sent shivers through her body and she held his neck tighter. "Rachel."

_  
All my preminitions  
What lies ahead  
You and your deceptions  
Crawl into my bed_

Rachel waited for the man to tell her his name in return but he remained silent. She was pretty sure the bouncer had said it but she honestly hadn't been paying that close of attention.

_Over and over and over and over again  
Over and over and over and over again_

Rachel felt him run his hands up her sides all the while keeping their hips moving in their simple yet highly charged dance.

_You're psychotic  
I'm sufferin'  
Take all you can  
'Til nothin' is left  
Kickin', screamin',  
Fightin' again  
You're so sick, sick, sick_

_You're psychotic  
I'm sufferin'  
Take all you can  
'Til nothin' is left  
Kickin', screamin',  
Fightin' again  
You're so sick, sick, sick_

Rachel could feel his hands move back to her hips so he could once again turn her but instead of allowing him to do this she slithered down his body almost to the floor her hands reached out behind her so she could skim his body all the way down.

Slowly she came back up again and found as soon as he could reach her hips his hands were once again on her and bringing her around to face him. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.

Rachel nodded and allowed him to lead her off the dance floor as the last chorus played.

He led her up to the bar where he addressed Tina the bartender by name. "Hey Tina can you grab me another beer and what would you care for Rachel?"

Rachel opened her mouth to answer but Tina interrupted when she brought over the beer and another bottle full of purple liquid.

"H-h-here you g-guys go! On the h-house!" Tina said happily before going back to work.

"I take it you're here a lot?" he asked Rachel as they walked back over to the tables.

Rachel blushed, "Yeah pretty often." She took a sip of her drink and hummed in pleasure as the taste of berry and vodka moved over her tongue. "You never told me your name."

He smirked, "Puck."

Rachel nodded, "It's nice to meet you Puck." She sipped her drink again as Puck took a pull from his beer.

"So I was thinking," Puck tried to remain smooth remembering the altercation earlier in the night. "We dance some more and then maybe if you feel like it we could,"

Rachel reached across the table and placed her finger across his lips in the universal signal for shush.

"I am gonna stop you there. It's been nice meeting you Puck but I am not that type of girl. Thanks for the drink."

With that she got to her feet and turned to make her way towards the door.

"Wait! Rachel!" Puck called after her and she turned back to him as he walked over. "You said you come here a lot? Will you be here tomorrow night?"

Rachel felt a smirk pull at her lips, "Possibly. Why do you ask?"

Puck matched her smirk with one of his own, "Then I guess I will see you tomorrow night."

"Maybe." With that she turned again and continued on her way quickly loosing Puck in the crowd.

"Rachel!" she once again heard her name being called and looked to see if it was Puck but instead saw Kurt waving at her from over near the wire room.

Rachel made her way over to him through a sea of bodies and embraced her long time friend.

"How was your night sweetie? You have fun? I saw you dancing with that boy. Oo the muscles on him girl!" Kurt seemed to drift off at the thought.

Rachel couldn't help but giggle. "He was muscular. A very nice specimen." She confirmed. "He asked me to come home with him."

Kurt snapped back to Rachel, "And?"

"I said no."

"Sweetie," Kurt sympathized, "I know it's hard. So hard. But you can't live being scared to let anybody in. if you keep living like that, one day you are going to wake up and find the whole world has left you behind."

Rachel could feel that familiar burning sensation in the back of her throat as her eyes became misty. "Except you right?"

"Except me, Quinn and Tina baby. You're stuck with us." Kurt wrapped his arms around Rachel's shivering form. "I'm not going to be able to leave for a few hours but Mike is off in about five minutes. Want me to see if he can give you a ride home?"

Rachel nodded, "That would be great, thanks."

"Okay, just go wait by the back door he'll be over in a minute."

Rachel nodded once again and walked into the back behind the stage. She picked her way across the floor over wires and equipment that had yet to be put away after the band had finished their set.

"Hey Rach!" Rachel looked up from the floor and saw Mike already waiting by the door. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Rachel finished making her way over and stood in front of her friend. "Thanks Mike, I appreciate it."

"Any time Rach." He opened the door for her and together the two stepped out into the New York night.

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A/N: Okay so that's chapter two. Again please feel free to leave feedback because I still don't really know what I am doing!


	3. Rebel Yell

A/N: Okay so here is chapter three. Now that we are moving out of the introductions to our main characters the chapters will be getting a bit longer(or at least I hope so) so that should make a few people pretty happy.

Side note: I really want to thank all the reviewers and alerts I have received. It means so much to me that you guys like what I am writing!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee and Rebel Yell belongs to the god of rock known as Billy Idol. **

**Chapter Three: Rebel Yell**

* * *

Puck watched Rachel until she disappeared into the crowd before turning to return to his beer. He took a long pull from it before downing the rest.

"Puck!"

Puck turned to find the person yelling his name. He couldn't keep the small smile off his face when he saw Finn pushing Artie towards him.

"Where did you get to man? We've been looking all over."

"I was dancing." Puck shrugged, "Other then that I was here."

"Guess we missed it!" Artie smiled a smile that didn't make it all the way to his eyes.

Puck winced knowing that today, for some reason, had been a bad day for his buddy. Both Finn and Puck knew that every once and a while there were days when Artie couldn't help but resent that he couldn't walk. Over all Artie was unfazed by the fact that he was the only one in the group that couldn't move his legs. He had been twelve when he had been in the car accident that had taken his ability to walk. Over the ten years since the accident Artie had accepted this as a fact of life, and his life was still pretty good even with his disability.

Finn broke the slightly awkward silence, "We wanted to know if you were coming home with us or staying out for a bit longer."

Puck glanced around the club, trying to decide if he would try his luck out once more on the female population. He looked around for another girl that caught his interest but failed. It seemed that Rachel was the only girl his libido wanted tonight. Fucking tease of a woman. Still she had said she might show up tomorrow night…

"Dude?" Finn asked as his friend remained silent.

Puck snapped back to Finn before responding, "Nah man, I'll come with you. I kinda-" Puck made a motion that resembled swinging a bat, "out tonight. Better luck tomorrow right?"

Finn nodded, "That's the spirit man."

"Tomorrow night they will be all over you, especially if we land this deal with the club." Artie confirmed shaking off his slight funk. "Let's get going, we're going to have to be back early to go over some things with the owner and Mercedes."

Puck fell into step behind Finn as they maneuvered Artie's chair through the crowd and out the door.

The cool night air hit their faces as soon as the exited the doors. Puck inhaled deeply, loving the way the night smelled different then the day…almost cleaner. It was a silly thought, he knew, because, let's face it, in New York there was no such thing as clean air.

Finn led the way to the van pushing Artie along in front of him, Puck half a step behind.

"So this chick that turned you down," Artie looked up at his friend, "What did she look like?" Artie asked.

"Hot, man, very hot." Puck smirked as he thought back to the way she had moved pressed up against him, "She had these legs that went on forever…just," Puck brought his hand to his mouth and made a kissing sound. "You know what I mean? And her ass? Spectacular. But you wanna know the best part? She had this attitude. And not the 'come fuck me' one. I mean like this real 'don't fuck with me' attitude."

"You liked her." Artie stated.

"Dude, I don't even know her."

"Yeah," Finn agreed listening intently to what both his friends had to say.

"If you are talking about her personality already you like her. Otherwise you would have stopped with the comment on her ass."

Finn considered this for a second before switching sides. "Artie has a point man."

"Shut up." Puck bumped his shoulders into Finn.

Finn laughed and shoved Puck back letting go of the back of Artie's wheelchair allowing Artie to take control of his own movement once again.

"Come on guys! If I beat you to the Van I am making you guys carry all the equipment in tomorrow!" Artie was moving towards their van parked only a few vehicles ahead on the street.

"Shit!" Puck stopped abruptly at the mention of equipment. "I left my fucking guitar backstage!"

"Dude, relax. We'll just drive around back and you can run in and pick it up. No biggie." Finn called back as he tried to catch up to Artie before overtaking him and plowing into the side of the van. "I win!"

Puck laughed, "Man, being the first to 'arrive' is not always a good thing."

Artie couldn't help but laugh at Finn's face while he tried to come back with something, anything really, which could deflect even part of the shot that Puck had just taken at his sexual ability.

Finn's mouth opened and closed a few more times in what Puck considered to be a great fish impression before he muttered something that sounded close to, "That's what she…your mom…said." Finn then pulled open the side door and helped Artie, who had yet to stop laughing, into his seat before folding up the chair. Finn quickly tucked the chair into its spot and slammed the door closed.

Puck laughed as he opened the passenger door and swung himself into shotgun.

Finn opened his door and started the van.

"No hurt feelings?" Puck asked as his hulk of a friend remained silent as they pulled away from the curb and headed around the block.

"Come on Finn, it was pretty funny." Artie leaned forward in his chair with a huge smile on his face.

Finn remained silent for a few more moments as he pulled into the back lot and put the van in park. Slowly a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "It was pretty funny."

Puck laughed before jumping out of the van. "Damn straight! I'll be right back." Puck hurried over to the door. Puck reached out to grab the handle just as it was pushed open from the inside.

Caught off guard, Puck stumbled backwards somehow managing to trip over his own feet in the process. In a move that was less then smooth by any stretch of the word Puck fell backwards landing painfully hard flat on his back.

There was a short high pitched squeak and Puck closed his eyes is defeat. He sucked.

"Holy crap! Are you okay man?" the man who had opened the door held out his hand to help Puck to his feet.

Puck opened his eyes and reached up to grasp the offered hand. "Yeah I'm fine…uh Mike right?"

"Yeah," Mike looked Puck over trying to place him. "You're with the band!" he finally stated.

"Puck?" a soft voice from behind Mike questioned.

For the first time since falling over Puck realized that there were in fact two people and that one of them happened to be Rachel.

"Rachel!" Puck looked at her alarmed. There went any chance of him trying to look cool. Cool people don't fall over their own feet behind New York bars in the middle of the night.

"What are you doing here?"

"I forgot my guitar." Puck shrugged, casually he ran his hand over his shaved head. There was silence for a few momments as Puck took Rachel's appearence in once again. She really was attractive with her doe eyes and long dark hair, shimmering in the lights from the parking lot. "You said you were heading home?" Puck attempted to move to focus of the conversation off of himself, really, he wasn't that interesting.

"Uh yeah…Mike is giving me a ride home." Puck tried to push back the swell of jealousy that swam in his stomache, "You're with the band?" her voice a mixture of shock and what Puck hoped was interest as he nodded.

"Rach, I'm gonna get the car started okay?" Mike told her as he started to walked away.

"Okay, I'll be over in a second." Rachel returned her attention to the man in front of her. "I really liked the music tonight. I am surprised you didn't tell me you were in the band…I mean that's gotta be major points…."

Puck smirked and shrugged, "I don't like to brag. Well I do but…you didn't seem the type to be impressed by that."

Rachel smiled a small smile at him.

"Are you okay?" Puck reached out to touch her arm, "You seem…different…" Puck wasn't sure how to describe the change that had happened in minutes. Inside the club she had been passionate, bubbly and beyond sexy, but now she was different. Still sexy, that was for sure, but she seemed lost. A little girl in a world to big to understand.

"I'm fine." She echoed her statement from earlier in the night. "Just tired. If you will excuse me my friend is waiting." Rachel shrugged his hand off her and marched past him and towards the glowing tail lights of her friend's vehicle.

Puck cursed under his breath. That's what he got for showing a fucking interest in her life. He was about to storm into the building with an ugly look on his face when he heard his name being called.

"Puck! We're still on for tomorrow night?"

Puxk couldn't help but feel a smile pull at his lips, "If I am not on stage I'll be at our table." He confirmed with a nodd.

Rachel smiled more brightly, "I'll see you tomorrow then.

Puck smiled back before turning to enter the club. It took Puck a minute to find where his gutair had been moved too after he ahd abandoned it but that turned out to be a good thing because Finn had managed to leave behind one of his 'lucky' drumsticks and would have freaked out as soon as he realised it was gone. Puck took one last look around for anything that had been forgotten before he grabbed his guitar and made his way back over to the exit.

"Night man." Puck looked over to see Matt standing in the doorframe that lead back out onto the club floor. "We'll be seeing you tomorrow right?"

Puck nodded, "Yeah, we've got a contract to work out with your boss."

"See you then dude." Matt gave a sort of half salute before heading back out onto the floor.

Puck raised his hand in an almost wave before he headed back out the door and to the back of the van where he loaded his gear in next to Artie's bass guitar. By the time Puck had tossed his stuff into the back of the van and pulled himself back into his spot Rachel and Mike had already left.

"Dude," Puck looked over to Finn, "You forgot your damn drumstick again. I don't know why you call these things lucky when you loose them everyother time we fet a gig."

Finn looked at Puck blankly for a second before taking the stick. "They are lucky because you always find them when I leave them behind." Finn stated simply. "So, who was the chick man?" Finn asked as he turned the key and the van roared to life.

"Nobody." Puck responded quickly as he pulled his seatbelt on. "Just some girl who liked the show."

"Oh cool!" Finn grinned as he signalled out of the small parking lot and onto the street.

Artie lent forward, looking intently at the left side of Puck's face before stating, "He's lying…I think that was Rachel."

Puck watched in the mirror as a grin spread across Artie's face and Puck cursed inwardly, he and Finn were going to question him all the way home.

"Shut up Artie." Puck bit back deffensivly as he turned the radio up blasting whatever music Finn had playing, probably some 80's rock. Puck couldn't help but feel the smile that all but exploded onto his face as the familiar guitar opening of _Rebel Yell_ came over the speakers.

"Oh yeah!" Artie strummed along on his air bass as Finn banged on the steering wheel like he would his drums. Puck couldn't help but bounce his head along with the best before he belted out the vocals in his best impression of The Idol.

"Last night a little dancer  
came dancing to my door  
Last night my little angel  
came pumping on the floor  
She said "Come on baby  
I got a license for love  
And if it expires pray  
help from above"  
Because"

The boys joined together to growl out the chorus.  
In the midnight hour she cried-  
"more, more, more,"  
With a rebel yell she cried-  
"more, more, more."

Puck howled out the window with his own yell, the guys just as into it as he was.

In the midnight hour babe-  
"more, more, more,"  
With a rebel yell-  
"more, more, more,"  
"more, more, more."

The ride home seemed to take no time at all, the trio belting out classic rock all the way.

"Kurt wants us back at the club at two to talk about a contact with the club. We will be here to pick you up at quarter after one so be ready to go okay?" Artie told Puck as he pulled his guitar out of the back of the van.

"I got it."

"Alright. Call if you need anything, okay Puck?" Artie's face was full of concern and Puck wanted to scoff and tell him to grow a pair, but instead found himself moved.

"I know guys. Really, I don't do chick flick moments. I'm fine. Better off without that bitch anyways."

Artie smiled back, "We know. We just wanted to make sure you did."

"Night guys."

"Night." Artie and Finn responded as one as Puck slammed the trunk closed and walked into his building.

The building that Puck called home was an older building with no elevator which made having Artie over a minor inconvenience but carrying his friend up the seven flights of stairs once in a blue moon was worth his company. Artie wasn't fond of being carried so it didn't happen very often as it was only a twenty minute walk over to Finn and Artie's building so it was generally easier for Puck to get off his lazy ass and walk over.

Puck hauled his guitar up the stairs to his floor and entered his apartment. He neglected to flip on the lights choosing to ignore the empty photo frames and the closed velvet lined box that sat in the corner of the room. The box had been opened only once and still contained it's treasure. The current home of the box was the only evidence that Puck had yet to clean up from the night that it had ended up there. It had been there for a while but Puck had yet to bring himself to touch it.

Puck placed his guitar on the floor by the door as he kicked his shoes off, loosing them in the dark. Slowly Puck picked his way across the living room and into his bedroom, again ignoring the empty side of the closet and chest of drawers.

Puck stripped down quickly loosing his shirt, socks and pants in record time his only remaining clothing a pair of _South Park_ boxers that had seen better days. He slid into bed and glared at the mound of pillows he had sprawled on the other side of the bed.

It suddanly ocurred to Puck that he neither wanted or needed those pillows there and as quickly as he had gotten undressed Puck tossed all but two pillows off his bed and into the darkness. Puck couldn't help but breath a sigh of contentment as he rolled into the middle of the bed, a place he hadn't slept in over a year, and closed his eyes without once thinking about going to visit his liquor stash.

Puck couldn't help but smile as he lay in bed looking at the California style ceiling. For the first time in months a face other then Santana's entered his mind.

'_Take that bitch.'_

Puck fell into a sound, dreamless sleep.

* * *

A/N: Okay so that's it for this chapter. Review please? They make my day every time!

OH! A special shout out to **Alicia Jo** who pointed out a grammatical error I made. I don't have a bata reader so if you see anything point it out and I will fix it!

**Please leave any constructive criticism you can think of. It's the only way I am going to get better.**


	4. Nobody's Home

A/N: Okay so I've been to New York all of once and while I was told about the different areas of the city I honestly can't remember. Right now I am thinking Puck's apartment should be in Brooklyn and Rachel should be living in the area of Alphabet City. If this is wrong (and it probably is) can somebody let me know? I kinda want a real flavor to this and the New York culture and population changes dramatically from section to section of the city. So anyways leave me feedback and let me know what you think. Thanks guys!

A/N2: I just realized I went back and made some small changes to the other chapters, one of them being that Puck lives in a two story apartment. That is not right he is in just a regular old one bedroom. He is not making the big bucks yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If I did Puck and Rachel would still be together and Puck would be the lead vocal too. Such a better singer then Finn.

* * *

Chapter Four: Nobody's Home

Rachel tried to resist her urge to run to the car and never come back to _Impulse._ What had she been thinking? Her earlier 'maybe' had just been to throw him off, let him down easy. She had no intention of coming to the club to meet him when he had asked. Not that she hadn't wanted to in many ways but…

Rachel shook her head clear of all thoughts containing the man who was behind her and she quickened her pace as she approached Mike's car. She pulled open the passenger door and climbed into her seat.

"Thanks for driving me home Mike." Rachel said as soon as she was settled into her spot and had done up her seatbelt.

"It's no problem Rach." Mike smiled at her as he backed out of his spot. "It's not that far out of my way."

Rachel returned his smile and relaxed back into her seat.

"Puck's a good guy Rach."

Rachel looked over at her friend who glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he pulled out into the busy streets of New York. Mike looked like he wanted to say more but kept his mouth shut.

Rachel's eyes immediately narrowed as she observed her friend closely. His body language was relaxed and easy going letting Rachel know that he was being honest. Rachel remained silent trying to think of a way to respond before settling on, "How do you know him?"

Mike grinned and looked over at Rachel, "I'm a bouncer! It's my job to know everyone that comes into my club. I helped the band bring in their gear and set up the stage. We joked around a bit…plus Matt told me about dickface and said that Puck was trying to help you out. Places him firmly into the 'good guy' category until he is an asshole."

Rachel couldn't help but smile at Mike's use of profanity. She had never much approved the use of such language, even in high school where how many times you could curse in a sentence was directly related to how cool and independent you were. Rachel had always subscribed to the school of thought that dictated if you had to curse, your vocabulary was obviously stunted and Rachel most definitely did not have a stunted vocabulary. It was only as she grew older that she realized that at the end of the day sometimes the only thing left to say was a simple, one syllable word known only as fuck.

"He was rather chivalrous." Rachel agreed as she yawned loudly.

"Almost home Rach." Mike told her as he turned left. "Then you can snuggle into bed."

"That sounds superb."

The rest of the trip was made mostly in comfortable silence. Rachel looked out the window and watched as her city passed by.

She wasn't a New York native, she had moved to the big city from Lima Ohio as soon as she had finished high school with the dream of making it big on Broadway and she had done pretty well on that front. She had attended Julliard and done very well. After she had finished school she had gotten a few small roles in a few big name musicals before getting the lead in Spring Awakening. The show had just closed and Rachel had decided it was time for a small break before looking for a new part.

Mike signaled and pulled into a no parking zone. "Home at last ma'am." Mike grinned at his friend.

Rachel smiled back, "Thanks again Mike. I don't know what I would do without you guys."

"That's what we're here for. Have a good night Rachel."

"Night." Rachel opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk waving as Mike pulled away.

Rachel watched as Mike's tail lights disappeared into the night before turning to make her way inside.

Rachel entered her apartment flipping on the lights before she had the door all the way open. She looked around at her bright apartment smiling at the faces in the photos on the walls. Pictures of her friends and her fellow cast mates were everywhere. There were pictures of her with the rest of the Spring Awakening cast on opening night and closing night and others with her and Quinn in high school. There were more recent pictures of her Quinn and Kurt one was from the night Quinn opened _Impulse_ as well. At last her eyes fell on the pictures of her and her dads. It had been long enough that seeing their faces didn't rip her heart out but there was always that pull of longing to see them again.

Rachel looked around her empty home and let out a deep sigh. She walked toward the photo of her fathers and looked at it closely. Studying the lines of their faces, the way their smiles lit up their eyes with the love they felt for each other. Feeling the twinge of longing return Rachel turned away from the photo and made her way into her modern kitchen.

Rachel made her way over to her stainless steel fridge and pulled the door open. The contents were meager. Left over Chinese, some fruit, a carton of orange juice and her P!nk CD. Well that explained why she had found lunchmeat in the CD case yesterday.

Rachel grabbed the orange juice, and neglecting to find a glass, she opened the twist top and drank straight from the carton. Not like she was sharing it anyways. She tossed the carton back into the fridge and made her way down the hall to her bedroom.

She pulled the door open and entered her bedroom turning on the lights as soon as she could reach the switch. Neat with the bed made and curtains pulled open to allow light into the room during the day, Rachel's room was completely impersonal. No photos cluttered the nightstands, dresser or walls. Her dirty clothes were all stowed neatly in the hamper and her clean clothes were either hanging in her closet or folded away in her dresser.

Rachel shivered as she walked back into her living room with the intent of turning off the trail of lights she had left to her room, cold, everything was cold and empty and Rachel hated it. She hated it all. She hated her life and her stupid little apartment that held nothing but _stuff_.

Rachel let out a choked cry as she ripped the photo of her fathers off the wall and threw it across the room. The frame hit the wall with enough force to dent the drywall and shattered into tiny slivers of glass and wood. The photo of her with the Spring Awakening cast followed crashing into the wall and falling apart in the same manner.

Rachel could feel the tears make their way down her face and she could feel her heaving sobs but couldn't seem to connect with them. What was she doing? Her hands seemed to move by themselves as they plucked another photo from the wall. Her and Quinn.

The world rushed back in as she put the photo back on the wall and Rachel stared at the minor damage she had caused before running after the photos. Carefully she pulled one of them out from the destroyed frame that had held it but still ended up slicing her finger open on the sharp glass. Rachel pulled the photo to her chest as tears leaked down her face and blood flowed down her hand staining the photo she held.

Slowly Rachel felt her knees give out and she sunk to the floor among the glass and slivers of wood. If they pricked her she didn't notice. Blood and tears fell together on the picture smearing across her daddy's face staining him pink. Rachel couldn't hold back her gasping sobs as she pulled the photo tighter to her chest and let both blood and tears fall onto the glass and wood staining the white carpet underneath.

Rachel wasn't sure how long she sat there with the picture of her fathers clasped to her like they might save her but when she gained the strength to move her finger had stopped bleeding leaving only dried blood that had dried on her arm in a trail all the way to her elbow. Collecting herself Rachel placed the photo on the coffee table and pushed herself to her feet, wincing as she felt glass bite into her palms.

She slowly made her way across the room to the closet and pulled out her vacuum. Rachel made quick work of the broken glass and wood before grabbing a scrub brush and a bottle of carpet cleaner. Rachel scrubbed at the red stain that was rapidly turning a copper color. More tears make their way down her cheeks as the stain refuses to lift.

Finally Rachel gives up. She throws the products down onto the table next to the photo and moves over to the end table that has a lamp sitting on it. She picks it up and moves it over so that it stands on top of the stain. Everything covered up, good as new.

Rachel flicks off the lights and heads to bed. She climbs under her white comforter and pulls it up around her face snuggling into it's depths before reaching her hand out to pull open her bedside table drawer. Her hand pats around before finding and clasping the cold glass bottle full of clear liquid. Rachel takes a deep drink and then another feeling the burn as the liquid sears her throat. Satisfied, she screws the top back onto the bottle and places it back in its spot.

As she drifts off into the abyss Rachel can't help but think that maybe letting somebody in would be better then letting herself fade out.

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A/N: So I found this chapter REALLY hard to write so that's one of the reasons it took so long. Also this past weekend was the first anniversary of my friend's death and for obvious reasons I found myself too busy to write. Anyways feel free to leave any ideas and suggestions you have for the story and I will try and make the next few chapters longer.


	5. Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

A/N: Well that was one hell of a wait but I already have part of the next chapter written so it should be out by Monday...Tuesday at the latest. Sorry for the wait!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

**LAST TIME ON BASS LINE:** Puck and the boys got offered a house band contract at Quinn's club _Impulse_ and they are really excited about it. Puck met a really hot chick named Rachel out on the dance floor after the show but she was kinda crazy and took off. He ran into her later and made a total fool of himself but went home with the promise of a date with her the next night. And that's what you missed on BASS LINE!

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Chapter Five

The first think Puck noticed as his mind drifted into something that resembled alert was that his head felt perfectly fine. This realization was followed by the discovery that he wasn't drowning in pillows. Over all this morning seemed to be looking pretty damned good.

Puck rolled over so he could look at his alarm and was surprised to see the time. It was only 9:30. Puck couldn't remember the last time he had been awake this early without the help of an alarm. Hell he was up in time to have breakfast for breakfast instead of lunch.

Puck slowly pulled himself out of bed and placed his feet on the floor, groaning as he realized that feeling this good in the morning had lead him to another set of problems and with nobody around to hep him with it.

With nothing that resembled grace, Puck pushed himself into an upright position and groggily made his way out the door and down the hall to his bathroom.

Puck pushed open the bathroom door and flipped the light switch. He didn't bother to look at himself in the mirror as he pushed play on the small boom box that sat next to the sink. He quickly stripped off his sleepwear and turned the shower on as hot as it would go, which in his building was not very hot, and jumped in when he could stand it.

Puck quickly took care of his body's needs before picking up the bar of soap. He listened in mild interest to the weather and the traffic report as he scrubbed away at his body washing off the remains of his recent activities and the remains of night before. It wasn't until his stomach started to growl and the water grew cold that Puck decided it was time to get out and dry off.

Wrapping a towel around his waist Puck nudged the ajar bathroom door the rest of the way open with his knee. The apartment appeared different in the daylight, true the bookshelf still looked odd with the empty upturned picture frames and the small box on the floor looked out of place in the otherwise clean apartment, but in the daylight instead of feeling isolated and alone in his empty apartment, Puck felt refreshed and new.

Puck meandered his way through his apartment towards the fridge. He cringed as his bare feet hit the cold linoleum flooring but wasn't deterred from his ultimate goal. Puck pulled the fridge door open and stuck his head inside. He took a quick look around the cold box before remembering that he hadn't done any shopping this week and there for had no food in his apartment.

"Well," Puck spoke to himself out loud, "...Damn."

With that said Puck walked quickly over to his phone and dialed quickly.

The phone rang a few times before being picked up. "Hello?"

"I have no food in my house." Puck stated matter-of-factly.

Puck could all but hear Artie's lips turn up into a smirk. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you don't buy food."

"What am I supposed to eat?"

"Finn will come pick you up. Be ready in ten."

Puck smiled, "Awesome. I want pancakes,... and bacon!" And hung up the phone.

Puck made quick work of getting ready. He tossed on a pair of worn blue jeans before quickly choosing a white T-shirt and tossing a black button up over it.

Puck pulled his faded leather jacket on as he shoved his feet into his well worn shoes and headed out, locking the door to his apartment behind him.

Thundered down the stairs, each of Puck's heavy footstep echoed in the empty wooden stairwell. Puck hung onto the banister as he rounded the tight hairpin curve of the staircase with enough speed to all but swing himself around it. He reached the bottom of the stairs in record time meaning that he still had a good few minutes before Finn got there to take him to food.

Puck looked up and down his street, it was a hodgepodge of old tenement buildings, some better taken care of then others, some so far gone that Puck wasn't sure if the people living in them were actually paying rent or just squatting.

It was late enough in the day that people were moving about the street freely. Some boys were playing basketball just out of sight around the corner, given away by the tell tale sound of the bouncing ball and the hoots of laughter. Closer to his door a group of four little girls were playing hopscotch, overall it was a regular day though there seemed to be fewer teenagers hanging around on the steps up to his building today.

Just then Finn's van pulled up to the curb and let out a brief honk to announce its presence.

Puck grinned at the familiar vehicle as he sauntered over to the passenger side and climbed inside.

"Morning sunshine!" Puck greeted his friend with a smirk.

"Morning Puck." Finn responded, "Surprised to get your call this morning, can't remember the last time you were up this early."

"Me neither big guy." Puck replied as Finn pulled away heading back towards home.

"So dude...I know this is a sensitive topic but...now that San has moved out..." Finn trailed off as a look of discomfort passed over his face before he began again. "Artie just wanted to let you know, now that things have settled down a bit, that if shit gets, you know, tight or something...we can move things back to the way they were..."

Puck shared Finn's feeling of discomfort as he tried to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. "Finn man, I appreciate the thought, and if shit gets really tight I will keep it in mind, but lets be honest here. Now that we've all actually had our own bedrooms and nobody is living in the living room I don't think anybody really wants to go back to that."

Finn's smile spread from ear to ear. "Too true dude."

The rest of the short trip to Finn and Artie's was made in comfortable silence.

When they arrived Finn pulled the van around back were there were tenant parking spaces.

Finn and Artie's building was only slightly newer then Puck's but it had a rickety old cage elevator at the back of the building. Initially it had been what had attracted the three men looking for cheap housing to the building but when the available apartment had been on the ground floor it had been more then a bonus along with the convenient parking space it had been an easy choice.

Finn lead the way into the building, Puck trailing closely behind. Finn opened the door and Puck's stomach growled as the smell of bacon and eggs wafted out of the apartment.

"Morning Artie!" Puck called into the kitchen as he toed off his shoes and looked around his one time home. As always the floor was free of clutter though the same could not be said for just about every other surface.

"Morning Puckerman." Artie responded as sipped his coffee at the table. A plate of pancakes sat in the center of the table beside a frying pan that was all but overflowing with both eggs and bacon. "I figured you could get your own plate."

Puck smiled at his friend as he did what he was told, "Sounds like a plan."

"Yummy!" Finn said looking pleased at the feast that was prepared before him. Not bothering to find a plate Finn scooped up a pancake in his paw like hand and stuffed it into his mouth while picking out a few bits of bacon with the other hand.

"Dude!" Artie objected, "Not an animal, find a plate!"

Puck laughed as he sat beside Artie and skewered his own choice of pancakes. "Thanks for breakfast Artie, looks good man."

Artie nodded his thanks while he finished his coffee and ate his fill of his own cooking.

Puck polished off three pancakes, six slices of bacon and two good sized portions of eggs while Finn ate everything that was left before wandering off to take a shower and brush his teeth as he felt it was necessary to inform Puck of this.

As the boys finished up there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Puck said as he motioned for Artie to stop fiddling with whatever he had gotten his wheel stuck on. "Only fair since you made food."

Puck made his way over to the door and pulled it open without checking the peephole.

"Damn boy," the shorter black woman on the other side of the door beamed up at him. "You get better looking every time you call me over."

"Hey Mercedes." Puck greeted warmly as he bent down to hug her. "It's good to see you."

"Mercedes!" Artie rolled out into view to greet their long time friend and occasional manager.

After high school Mercedes had surprised everyone by going into prelaw and had offered her services as manager to the band. Mostly she supervised any sort of contracts the band signed or deals with stage time involved.

Mercedes and Artie embraced briefly before moving back to the kitchen to talk about the days plans.

Puck made his way to the living room and sunk into the couch. Picking up the paper on the coffee table he flicked straight to the entertainment section of the paper to see if there was anything mentioned about their performance the night before.

_Impulse_ was a pretty popular place for the music scene and there were often entertainment reporters hanging around even on nights when 'nobody' bands were playing.

Puck sighed, slightly disappointed that there seemed to be nothing in the paper about the band today, just a bunch of advertising for the _Chicago _reopening in a few weeks.

Oh well, if everything went as planned today there would be plenty more opportunities for _Direction of Jericho_ to get some free publicity.

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A/N: I will make sure the next chapter is out on Monday if somebody figures out why I named the Band that! Please r/r I have over 100 alerts, if even 15 of you review this chapter I will have two chapters out by this time next week.


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